UPSSSC PET 2026 Notification Out – Apply Online, Exam Date, Syllabus and Eligibility

The Uttar Pradesh Subordinate Services Selection Commission (UPSSSC) has released the advertisement for the Preliminary Eligibility Test (PET) 2026 under Advertisement No. 16-Pariksha/2026, published on 1 August 2026. Online applications open on 3 August 2026 and close on 1 September 2026.

If you are new to the UP recruitment system, understand what PET is before you treat it as a job notification, because it is not one. PET carries no vacancies of its own. It is a screening test that produces a scorecard, and that scorecard is the entry ticket to the Mains examinations of almost every Group C recruitment UPSSSC runs. Skip it this year and you sit out an entire cycle of Lekhpal, Junior Assistant, Auditor, Forest Guard and similar drives, regardless of how well qualified you are.

PET 2026 at a Glance

Why the OTR Comes First

This is where most first-time applicants lose days they do not have. UPSSSC does not accept a direct application. Every candidate must first complete One Time Registration (OTR) on the commission’s portal, and only then can the PET form be filled using the OTR number.

OTR is a separate exercise. It captures your personal details, educational qualifications, category and photograph, and it is validated before it becomes usable. If you have never registered with UPSSSC, start the OTR the day the window opens rather than in the final fortnight, because a rejected or pending OTR leaves you with no route to submit the PET form at all. Candidates who already hold an OTR number simply log in and proceed.

Eligibility Criteria

Educational Qualification

Candidates must have passed Class 10 (High School) or an equivalent examination from any recognised board in India. Higher qualifications such as 10+2 or graduation are accepted, and holding one confers no advantage in PET itself. The qualification bar for the Mains of each individual post is separate and higher in most cases, so a Class 10 pass candidate who qualifies PET can only apply for Mains examinations whose own qualification they meet.

Age Limit

Minimum 18 years and maximum 40 years as on 1 July 2026. Age relaxation applies to SC, ST, OBC, PwD, ex-servicemen and sportspersons as per Uttar Pradesh state rules. The 40 year ceiling is generous by national standards and is one reason PET draws such enormous volume each year.

Application Fee

Payment is made online through credit card, debit card, net banking, UPI or SBI e-Challan. If you choose the e-Challan route, allow extra days, since the challan must be generated, paid at a branch and then reconciled against your application before it is treated as complete.

Exam Pattern

The exam is conducted across two days in multiple shifts in most cycles, which is why normalisation is applied to the raw score. Your final PET score is not simply your marks. It is adjusted for the relative difficulty of your shift, and it is the normalised figure that appears on the scorecard and gets compared against Mains cut-offs.

Syllabus and Marks Distribution

PET is unusual among screening tests in that the mark weighting is published subject by subject. That transparency is worth exploiting, because it tells you exactly where to spend preparation time.

Where the Marks Actually Sit

Look at the bottom five rows. Current Affairs, General Awareness, Hindi passages, graph interpretation and table interpretation together carry 50 of the 100 marks. The ten traditional academic subjects that candidates spend most of their time on carry the other 50, at five marks each.

That distribution rewards a different preparation strategy than most people adopt. Graph and table interpretation are pure skill questions with no syllabus to memorise, and a candidate who drills them for two weeks can convert almost all 20 marks. Unseen Hindi passages are similarly mechanical once you practise the question types. Current Affairs and General Awareness at 20 marks combined reward daily reading rather than last-month cramming.

Put differently, half the paper is winnable through practice rather than recall. Candidates who treat PET as a general studies exam and neglect the interpretation sections routinely score below their ability.

How to Apply Online

1. Visit the official website upsssc.gov.in.
2. Complete One Time Registration (OTR) if you have not already. This step is mandatory and must be finished before the PET form can be filled.
3. Log in using your OTR number or registered mobile number with OTP verification.
4. Fill in the remaining educational qualification, personal, category and age relaxation details.
5. Upload the photograph and signature in the prescribed dimensions and file sizes.
6. Pay the fee through the available online modes.
7. Review everything carefully, submit, and print the final application form for your records.

Photograph and signature rejections are the single most common reason a UPSSSC application fails at submission. If your files are the wrong size, our free photo and signature resizer will bring them to spec in a few seconds. Where you need certificate scans combined into one document for your own records or for a later Mains application, the JPG to PDF converter handles that without any software installation.

Correction Window

UPSSSC provides a modification facility, which is more generous than most commissions offer. The application modification window opens on 10 August 2026, and the last date for fee reconciliation and correction is 8 September 2026, a week after the application deadline itself.

Use it deliberately rather than as a safety net. Correcting a category or a date of birth after submission is possible, but the correction window is also where candidates discover an unreconciled e-Challan payment. Check your payment status early in that window, not on 8 September.

Important Dates

The examination date has not been announced with the advertisement. In recent cycles the exam has followed roughly two months after the registration deadline, which would place PET 2026 somewhere in the October to November window, but that is a pattern rather than a commitment. Watch upsssc.gov.in for the official date.

What the PET Score Is Worth

Your scorecard is valid for three years from the date of result declaration. During that period, whenever UPSSSC announces a Group C recruitment, only candidates whose PET score meets the prescribed cut-off for that post are eligible to apply for its Mains examination, skill test or interview.

Two consequences follow. First, a strong PET score compounds. One good attempt buys you three years of access to every recruitment the commission announces. Second, the cut-off is not fixed. It is set separately for each post and category depending on vacancies and applicant numbers, so a score that clears one recruitment may not clear another in the same year.

Important Links

Related Recruitment

Candidates in Uttar Pradesh with a live application window right now should also look at UP Anganwadi Helper Recruitment 2026 for 265 posts in Azamgarh district, closing 31 August 2026, and Hapur UP Anganwadi Recruitment 2026 for 317 Worker and Helper posts, closing 18 August 2026. Neither requires a PET score, so they run independently of this cycle.

Graduates preparing for PET alongside banking should note that IBPS Clerk Recruitment 2026 carries 11,403 Customer Service Associate posts with Uttar Pradesh holding the largest state allocation at roughly 1,731 seats. That application closes on 21 August 2026, well before the PET window shuts.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is UPSSSC PET?

The Preliminary Eligibility Test is a qualifying screening examination conducted by UPSSSC. It carries no vacancies itself. It produces a scorecard that is required to apply for the Mains examination of most Group C recruitments in Uttar Pradesh.

When does the application window open and close?

Online applications open on 3 August 2026 and close on 1 September 2026, which is also the last date for fee payment.

Is One Time Registration compulsory?

Yes. You cannot submit a PET application without completing OTR on the UPSSSC portal first. Complete it early, since a pending OTR blocks the application entirely.

What is the educational qualification?

Class 10 or High School pass from a recognised board. Higher qualifications are accepted but give no advantage in PET itself.

What is the age limit?

18 to 40 years as on 1 July 2026, with relaxation for SC, ST, OBC, PwD, ex-servicemen and sportspersons as per Uttar Pradesh state rules.

What is the application fee?

₹185 for General, OBC and EWS candidates, ₹95 for SC and ST, and ₹25 for PwD candidates. Payment is online only.

Is there negative marking in PET?

Yes. One fourth of a mark, that is 0.25, is deducted for each wrong answer. Blank answers carry no penalty.

How long is the PET score valid?

Three years from the date the result is declared. A single good attempt covers every eligible recruitment announced in that period.

When will the PET 2026 exam be held?

The date has not been announced with the advertisement and will be notified separately on upsssc.gov.in. Recent cycles have held the exam roughly two months after the application deadline.

Can I correct my application after submitting it?

Yes. The modification window opens on 10 August 2026, and corrections along with fee reconciliation can be made until 8 September 2026.

Does a good PET score guarantee a job?

No. It makes you eligible to apply for the Mains stage of posts whose cut-off you meet. Selection depends on the Mains examination, skill test or interview for each individual recruitment.

How many marks does the data interpretation portion carry?

Graph interpretation and table interpretation carry 10 marks each, for 20 marks combined. Together with unseen Hindi passages, current affairs and general awareness, half the paper sits outside the traditional academic subjects.

The official PDF for Advt. No. 16-Pariksha/2026 is published as a scanned document. The dates, fee and pattern above reflect the commission’s published schedule as reported on 1 August 2026. Candidates should open the notification on upsssc.gov.in and confirm every figure against it before applying, and watch the site for any corrigendum.